De Vries' first start pushed back to Sunday

Cole De Vries' first start has been pushed back until Sunday, manager Ron Gardenhire said before Wednesday's game, after the right-hander felt tightness in his forearm again during a bullpen session.

Liam Hendriks will pitch the series opener against Baltimore on Friday -- the Orioles' home opener -- and Vance Worley, who pitched six innings Monday against the Tigers, will take De Vries' spot on Saturday. "It helps keep Worley on five[-day rotation], but it also gives De Vries an extra day," Gardenhire said. "It just went OK today. It wasn't great."

That's because, near the end of a 30-pitch bullpen session, De Vries began to feel the ligaments in his right forearm, just below the elbow, tighten up again. "I could kind of feel it as I released the ball, on top of my forearm," said De Vries, who left his final spring-training start after just three innings last Friday. "It's the first time in my career I've ever had any [problem] in my arm, but I think it's just a minor strain."

After his mound session, De Vries had "active release therapy" on his arm, a massage technique in which "they find the hot spot and really dig in and stretch it out to loosen it," he said, and he is optimistic that should speed the healing.

De Vries will throw in the bullpen in Baltimore on Friday, and the team will make a decision on Saturday about whether he'll make his start or go on the disabled list before his season even starts. "I was hoping it would be 100 percent by now, but it's not 100 percent," De Vries said. "But we'll see. It could easily be good for Sunday."

Meanwhile, Kevin Correia makes his first start as an American Leaguer today, facing Detroit right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Both teams will use the same lineups they started on Monday: